Good news for leatherbacks!

All the recent news on leatherbacks seems to be good lately for a change.  A group of scientists has estimated the Gabon nesting population somewhere between 15, 000 to 41,000 females, a huge number considering the most recent estimate of worldwide females in 2004 was only roughly 35,000 total!  That makes this population larger than both the Suriname and Trinidad populations, long considered the world's largest.  

This news comes on the heels of a large new leatherback nesting beach in southern Panama, just north of the border with Costa Rica.  Ocean Revolution's Tim Dykman recently visited one of these beaches, located in the territory of the Kuna Indigenous community.  The Kuna have a long tradition of respect for the leatherback and do not eat their eggs or meat.  See photo below.

Add those new studies to evidence that leatherback numbers are increasing dramatically in places like Trinidad and that 2009 is looking like a great year along Costa Rica's Caribbean coast, things are looking bright for this species in the Atlantic.  Now we just need some good news for the Pacific leatherbacks...

DIA Turtle Display

On a recent trip to Denver, I passed by this display case educating people about avoiding purchasing sea turtle products on vacation.  The display is pretty well done though not very noticeable to the thousands of people passing by.

Michael J. Fox on turtles and optimism

Michael J. Fox is one of those people whose incredibly sunny attitude in the face of hardship can't help but inspire.  Instead of disappearing when he learned he had Parkinsons, he decided to use his celebrity and energy to bring attention to this debilitating disease.  His show last night "Always Looking Up" was a look at what makes people optimistic and visited sites around the world where people are working together to improve their conditions.  http://abc.go.com/specials/michaeljfox/index

What does this have to do with sea turtles?  Michael had one of those moments of clarity one day while snorkeling off the US Virgin Islands.  From his memoir Lucky Man:

"My family and I were snorkelling the pristine waters off St John's in the US Virgin Islands. We'd been visiting this beach for years, and had never seen a sea turtle. Having finally spotted one gliding through the sea grass just inside the coral reef, I swam slowly behind it, keeping a respectful distance. When I finally emerged from the water, I kicked off my flippers, walked over to where Tracy was towelling off the kids, grabbed a towel for myself, and informed her that I was leaving the show."

Michael's attitude is one that I see in many sea turtle conservationists working long hours to protect an animal that has seen a dramatic decline over the past few decades.  A well-known magazine not too long ago named "oceanographer" as the second worst job in the world because of the constant bad news.  But I see cause for optimism in sea turtle conservation, that where groups of dedicated people and organizations have been working for many years, numbers are going back up.  There is a long way to go till their numbers reach where they should be, but there's enough evidence in many populations that we have turned a corner.

And Michael, anytime you want to SEE Turtles again, just let us know!

-Brad Nahill